Abstract

Given its history, and its socioeconomic and cultural relevance, viticulture is one of the most important economic activities in central Chile. Peasant agriculture participates in this market as a supplier of wine grapes and as a producer of wines of various qualities. However, given the high concentration of the domestic market, the deployment of non-competitive practices by the main actors and the regulatory weakness of the State, farmers have had to implement various associative upgrading strategies in order to reduce costs, increase quality, ensure competitive volumes and prices, and access dynamic markets. One of these associative upgrading strategies is the certification of winegrowers' organizations under the standards of the Fairtrade International system. Based on a comparative analysis of five case studies, corresponding to the set of Fairtrade-certified small winegrowers' organizations in Chile, this article analyzes the diversity of associative upgrading strategies and their economic results. Using interviews with key informants, the following issues are characterized: (1) business models and competitive strategies for each organization; (2) the upgrading strategies implemented; (3) industry forces; (4) strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats faced by organizations; and (5) the economic results obtained. This analysis makes it visible that the Fairtrade certification, along with other upgrading strategies, appears to be related to positive economic results for producers, allowing them to overcome the oligopsonic structure of the domestic market.